Tripura: BJP ally Tipra Motha Party seeks strong action against illegal infiltrators

Agartala, Sep 19 (IANS) The Tipra Motha Party (TMP), a junior partner of the ruling BJP in Tripura, on Friday strongly criticised the state government for “failing to take adequate action against illegal infiltrators and for not ensuring their deportation”.

Senior TMP leader and Forest Minister Animesh Debbarma said that his party clearly wanted to know what steps had been taken by the state government about the identification and deportation of the illegal migrants and implementation of the tripartite accord signed on March 2 last year.

After a year-long hectic parleys and after the signing of the tripartite agreement with the Centre and the Tripura government on March 2 last year, the then opposition party TMP with 13 MLAs joined the BJP-led coalition government in the state on March 7 last year, adding a new twist to Tripura's politics.

Two TMP MLAs -- Animesh Debbarma and Brishaketu Debbarma -- were inducted into the ministry headed by Chief Minister Manik Saha.

Animesh Debbarma on Friday said that 1971 is a cut-off-year to identify the infiltrators and people of Tripura wanted to know what action the government has taken against the illegal migrants and their pushing back. The 1971 cut-off year in the context of illegal infiltration into India refers to March 25, 1971, as the deadline for migrants to enter India from what was East Pakistan and now Bangladesh.

“We have not seen any reasonable actions in our state against the infiltrators and their deportation. Also we clearly wanted to know about the implementation of the tripartite accord,” Debbarma told the media.

The TMP leader accompanied by other party MLAs said that they would raise these issues during the ongoing session of Tripura Assembly.

“We are not performing any drama ahead of the TTAADC elections. We have every right to ask the government any question or raise any issue that concerns the people,” he said.

The crucial elections to the politically important Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) are likely to be held early next year.

Meanwhile, the TMP for the past few months has been agitating against the illegal infiltration into Tripura and demanded that all illegal migrants be deported to their respective countries.

A delegation of TMP led by party supremo Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma met the Chief Election Commissioner, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Health Minister and BJP President J.P. Nadda in Delhi in July and August and demanded to undertake the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Tripura similar to the procedure being adopted in Bihar.

The TMP delegation discussed with the Home Minister and BJP President about the early implementation of the tripartite accord to fulfil the constitutional rights of the indigenous people and uplift the socio-economic conditions of the tribals, who constitute one third of Tripura’s four million populations.

The TMP held a demonstration in Delhi on September 9 in support of their three-point demands, including the implementation of the tripartite accord, signed in March last year and deportation of illegal migrants from Tripura. The TMP also has been demanding for a 'Greater Tipraland' or a separate state for the tribals under Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution and conduct the long-pending Village Committee elections in TTAADC areas.

The TMP has been governing the 30-member politically important TTAADC, which has jurisdiction over two-thirds of Tripura's 10,491 sq km area, and is home to over 12,16,000 people, of which around 84 per cent are tribals.

--IANS

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